Postcards and Proofs 1979–1981 323
General – decided to remove any ambiguity by reminding everyone
that there was nothing exceptional about this procedure.^45
Medically speaking, things were no simpler, as Dominique
Lecourt relates:
Shortly after the drama, Dr Diatkine asked Derrida, Debray,
Balibar and me into his offi ce. Crushed by his responsibil-
ity, panic-stricken at the idea he would be asked to give an
explanation, he held forth in an incredible fashion, thanking
us for not placing the blame on him. He continued to deny the
facts. ‘What we know,’ he said, ‘is that Hélène is dead, but I
am equally certain that Louis couldn’t have killed her, since
it’s technically impossible.’ In Sainte-Anne, Althusser had
been placed under the supervision of a young psychiatrist with
whom a strange relationship was developing. Just as Diatkine
had long been, he was falling under Althusser’s spell, and start-
ing to believe that Althusser knew more about his own case
than the psychiatrist himself did.^46Since internment was bound to be indefi nite, Sainte-Anne was
not the best solution. With Diatkine’s support, Althusser asked
to be transferred to the Eau vive clinic at Soisy-sur-Seine, where
he had already been treated on numerous occasions. But the
request was turned down by the Prefect of Police, without any
offi cial explanation. Derrida, Balibar, and Lecourt intervened yet
again:
We greatly regret, in the patient’s interest, this negative
de cision. It is clear, on the admission of the very doctors who
are currently treating him, that the emergency service in which
he now is does not suit long-term treatment. [.. .] In our view,
such an authorization would not constitute a particular favour,
but a decision dictated by logic and humanity.^47In June 1981, Althusser was discreetly transferred to Soisy-sur-
Seine. Over the following months and years, Derrida continued to
pay him regular visits. As Étienne Balibar explains:
Jacques Derrida was the senior member of our group. He took
things in hand, acting with both intelligence and generosity.
In Soisy, he went to see Louis almost every Sunday; he acted
like a relative, taking him back to their house in Ris-Orangis
whenever Louis was allowed out. When Jacques was abroad, it
was Marguerite who took over... This loyalty was all the more
remarkable in that Althusser had a very ambivalent relation
with Derrida: it was a strange mixture of admiration, aff ection,